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SALT LAKE CITY — A ninth Utahn has been arrested and charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots.
Justin Dee Adams, 48, of West Jordan, was arrested Wednesday on charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, as well as related misdemeanor offenses,
He was arrested in West Jordan and made his initial appearance Wednesday in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge Jared C. Bennett, federal court records show. Adams was ordered to be detained and remanded to the U.S. Marshals Service pending his detention hearing set for Oct. 28.
Adams was believed to be among the people who were protesting illegally on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. He confronted officers in the Upper West Plaza of the Capitol, the news release states, where Adams raised his hands above his head and walked towards them until making physical contact.
Officers pushed him back several feet and Adams then charged the police line, physically attacking one or more officers, according to the news release. After being pushed back again, "he continued to yell and gesture aggressively at officers, while other rioters attempted to hold him back," the news release states.
Several minutes later, Adams grabbed a metal bike rack that officers were using to prevent the mob from advancing any further, according to the news release. He threw a plastic bottle at one officer who had tried to stop him from taking the bike rack, then dragged the rack into the crowd with another rioter, the news release reads.
Adams' case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section, with "valuable assistance" provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah, according to the news release.
The case is being investigated by the FBI's Salt Lake City field office, and the FBI's Washington field office, which identified Adams as No. 374 on its seeking information photos, the release continues.
More than 880 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 270 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, the release says. The investigation remains ongoing.
